Apparatus for coating articles



Apri 20, 1943. R. A. HINKLEY ETAL APPARATUS FOR COTING ARTICLES l iFiled May i7, 1959 2 sheets-sheet 2 )Nl/ENTOR.

Patente'd Apr. 20, 1943l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l asiasss tAPPARATUS FR COATING ARTICLES Ray A. Hinkley and John Leland Miller,Corning,

Y., assienors to Corning Glass Works,

Corning, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 17,1939, VsemiNo. 274,290

(Cl. Sil-12.2)

14 Claims.

to be metallized by presenting such surfaces to a Schoop gun or othermetal spray apparatus. In this manner the metal 4is applied in atomizedform and good adhesion to the glass is obtained so long as the glass issuiiiciently hot and the thickness of the coating is held withinreasonable limits beyond which the coating will tend to spall. Theapplication of a coating to the outer edge surfaces of a circulararticle can be readily accomplished by simply appropriately spacing itfrom the nozzle `of a Schoop gun and'rotating the article while sprayingits edge surface until the desired thickness of coating has beenapplied. Since in such an article the surface thereofbeing coated mayreadily be passed before the gun at a constant speed and remainsuniformly spaced therefrom at all times, a `uniformly distributedcoating is obtained without If, on the other hand, thearticledifficulty. surface to be coated is of non-circular outline, itssurface speed and distance from the gun nozzle will vary and an unevendistribution of the coating material will result.

One object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus by whichglass objects even though of non-circular outline may be given a uniformcoating in a highly eiiicient manner.

The present invention embodies among its features facilitates forfeeding an article to a reheating lehr, transferring the heated articletherefrom to a rotatable support, elevating, seizing, and rotating thearticle in such a manner as to present a constantly changing uniformsurface area thereof to be coated to a Schoop gun ejecting a spray ofcoating material, effecting such movement of the gun as to maintain auniform distance between it and the surface being coated, and tothereafter release and pneumatically unload the article from thesupport.

Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings illustrates, in side elevation andpartly in section, a preferred form of part of an apparatus embodyingthe invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic viewof theapparatus shown in Fig. 1 and ofother apparatusy I2 diagrammatically illustrated as being rotatable by afriction wheel i3 supported on a shaft l1 driven by a. variable speedmotor I8.

'I'he feeding of an article to the lehr table and the withdrawal of aheated article therefrom is by means of a `rake 20 carried on the freeend of a shaft 2| actuated by a ,piston within a` pneumatic cylinder 22.A control valve 25 under the influence of a pair of bleeder valves 26and 21 alternately supplies air to the opposite .ends of the cylinder 22to effect such actuations.

These bleeder and control valves and others hereinafter referred toareof well known form and are similar to those disclosed in a copendingGoodrich application Sr. No. 227.551 led August 30, 1938. All controlvalves are continuously supplied with air from a main supply line liland in turnhave leakage paths within them which supply air to linesextending to their respective bleeder valves. For example, valve 25receives air via line 30 and a branch -line 3l and feeds a part of thisair out over bleeder valve lines 26' and 21' which are normallyclosed toVatmosphere -by their bleeder valves` 26 and 21. When bleeder valve 26is actuated, it exhausts line 26' direct to atmosphere causing thecontrol valve to actuate and supply' air to the forward end of cylinder22 via an air line 32 and at the same time exhausts the rearward end ofthe cylinder to atmosphere via a line 33, ports within the valve and an.exhaust line 24. Ina similar fashion the actuation of bleeder valve 21causes the valve 25 to operate in such a manner as to-supply air overline 23 to the rearward endof cylinder 22 and to exhaust the forward endthereof to atmosphere. As will readily appear from an inspection of Fig.2, the bleeder valves 26 and 21 with others, hereinafter specificallyreferred to, are arranged in the desired order and spaced relation abouta timer cam 36 supported on shaft i1 and having a single lobe forsuccessively actuating the bleeder valves.

The elevating and subsequent lowering of an article is by means of asupport 38 carried by a shaft 40 coupled by a ball `bearing assembly 50to a shaft 40, adapted to be raised and lowered 'by a piston within apneumatic cylinder 4I. A control valve 43 under the inuence of a pair ofbleeder valves 44 and 45 alternately supplies air to the opposite endsof cylinder 4| to effect such actuations. The shaft 40' passes through asleeve 46 carrying a gear 41 into the hub of Winch is threaded set screw48 (Fig. 1) entering a slot 49 in the shaft. This arrangement provides adrive connection between the shaft 40 and gear 41 while permittingsuilicient relative endwise movement that when air is supplied to theupper end of cylinder 4i the support 3811s lowered flush with astationary platform 5| extending over to the edge of the rotating tableI2 from which a heated article is raked onto the support in a mannerhereinafter explained.

The clamping of an article on support 38'during the rotation thereof isby a clamping cup 53 rotatably mounted on an arm 54 supported from ashaft 55 at times under the influence of a shaft 55 actuated by a pistonwithin a pneumatic cylinder 51. A control valve $0 under the influenceof a pair of bleeder valves 8| and 62 alternately supplies air to theopposite ends of cylinder 51 as required to raise and lower'its shaft56.

The unloading of an article from support 38 is effected by a bleedervalve 54 which, when actuated, exhausts air from its feed lines 55 and66 to atmosphere through a line 51 and an unloading nozzle 68.

The invention is herein applied to the rcuating of the edge surfaces ofrectangular glass articles 18 having their corners rounded, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 3. Since it so happens that the surface to be coatedis of substantially rectangular outline, the surface speed variations ofonehalf thereof, comprising an end and a half of each adjoining side ofthe article, will duplicate that of the opposite half of the article.Because of this, the same means can be employed twice during onerevolution of the article to appropriately vary the speed of the articlesupporting shaft 40' in like manner twice during one revolution thereof.Rotation of shaft 48' is by a motor 12 through a suitable reductiongearing 13, a vfriction clutch 14, a gear 15 carried by an associatedvertical shaft 16, a pinion 11, eccentrically mounted gears 18 and 19,and a gear 80 in mesh with the gear 41 on shaft 40'. The foregoing gearsare all one to one ratio excepting gears 80 and 41, which are one to tworatio. It

follows, therefore, that for each revolution of shaft 'i6 shaft 40'revolvesone-half revolution during which its speed of rotation is variedin accordance with the eccentricity of gears 18 and 19, and thatone-half of the edge surface of an article 10to be coated is rotated infront of the nozzle of a Schoop gun 8l at a substantially constantperipheral speed. The other half of the edge surface to be coated is ina similar fashion advanced in front of the Schoop gun during the secondrevolution of the eccentric gears.

It is essential to stop rotation of the article support when loading andunloading and further to insure its being brought toa stop in properlyoriented rotary position to properly receive the article. This isaccomplished by providing the lower end of shaft l46)' with a collar 82(Fig. 1) carrying dogs 83 extending into a stationary cylinder 84 andurged outward by springs 85.

'When the shaft 40 is lowered a predetermined permits continuedoperation of the motor 12 dur- The slipping of clutch 14, however,I

ing the time rotation of the respective parts is being prevented.

As previously mentioned, the apparatus for introducing articles into thelehr and for withdrawing articles therefrom comprises a rake 28 carriedon the free end of a shaft 2 I, 'actuated by a piston within thepneumatic cylinder 22. This rake has a prong 81 which rakes a heatedarticle from the lehr table l2 onto support38 at a time that suchsupport is stationary and vflush with an associated platform 5|. To keepthe lehr continuously supplied with-articles, an attendant at this `timeplaces an article on platform 5I in front of a prong 88 of the rake sothat as it returns to the position shown it rakes such article onto therotating table of the lehr.

As soon as an article is oriented on support 38, the lobe of timer cam35 encounters and actuates the bleeder valve 45 under the influence ofwhich control valve 43 is actuated to supply air to the lower end ofcylinder 4I to elevate `the support 38 as required to bring the articlecarried thereon into position to'receive ,a deposit from the Schoop gun8l'. However, before this height of the platform is attained theclampdown cup 53 is encountered. The weight of the supporting arm 54 andvertically movable shaft 55 of this cup prevents displacement of thearticle therefrom on subsequent rotation thereof following the raisingof the dogs 83 clear of the slots 86 in cylinder 34. l

As previously stated, shaft 55 is at times under the influence of ashaft 56 having `a piston operating in a cylinder 51 to which air issupplied by the control valve 60 under the influence of bleeder valves5| and 52. While an article is being coated, bleeder valve 52 isencountered by lobe of cam 36 and causes valve 68 to supply air to thelower'end of cylinder 51, thereby bringing the free end o f shaft 5S tosuch elevation that subsequently as the sprayed article is lowered,consequent to engagement of bleeder valve 45 by the timer cam,r and`locked against further rotation, shaft 55 encounters sha'ft 56 as thesprayed article approaches the horizontal level of nozzle 68.`Accordingly, as shaft 45 is lowered slightly farther, the article isfreed from the clamp 53. Just before this occurs, however, the lobe ofthe timer cam encounters bleeder valve 64 which bleeds air supplied toit by line 56 through line 61 and the nozzle 68.V Accordingly, as thesprayed article is loweredto the level of the nozzle it is freed fromcup 53 and blown from support 38 onto a suitable conveyor (not shown).

In the period during-which the support is flush with platform 5I, inpreparation for the receipt of another article, bleeder valve 6i isactuated and causes the control 4valve 5l) to supply air to the upperend of cylinder 51, thereby positively restoring shaft 56 to itslowermost position. This enables shaft 55 to lower the clamp member 53to its initial position.

The distance of the Schoop gunfrom thesurface being coated is maintainedconstant by a suitably shaped cam carried by shaft 16" and a returnspring 3|. Since the shaft 16 revolves two revolutions to one of thearticles to becoated, the outline of the cam 90 is such that during onerevolution thereof it effects movement of the gun as required tomaintain it a substantially uniform distance from the one end andhalfiof each adjoining side of the article edge surfaceY 8i ispositioned to direct the spray froma level belowrthe top surface of thearticle support38.`

With the material striking the edge of the article from 'a level belowthe plane of the lower surface of the article, the tendencyto blow thematerial between the vsupport and article, is

avoided; also, the material ejected above the top in which the materialis placed prionto the spraying thereof, meansfor transferring ma;

terial from said platform to the .lehr and for subsequently withdrawingsuch material there-l from onto said support, means for then raisingsaid support, means made eective during such l raising movement to clampthe article thereto,

means operated during such movement to effect rotation of said support,and a spray gun posisurface of the article does not disgure it,V as`such materialmoves at high velocity and ac-` cordingly passes thereover.

.nthough the invention has herein peenapplied to an apparatus forcoating the peripheral edges of a non-circular article of a particularsuitable modification of the eccentricity of gears 'I8 and :I9 and ofthe shapes of `cam 90 and support 38, such apparatus may be readilyadapted to coat the peripheral edges of any other of a wide range ofsymmetrically shaped articles Without departingfrom` the spirit and`scope` of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. In a coating apparatus for articles of noncircular shape, a coatingdevice, a holder for an article to be coated, and means for rotatingsaid holder at varying speeds necessary to produce a substantiallyconstant uniform peripheral speed of the surface of an articleto becoated at a point in alignment withsaid coating device.

2. In a glass coating apparatus, a support for successively receivingarticles to be coated, a lehr, means for feeding articles to the lehr,means for withdrawing such articles from the lehr and for placing themon said support, means for intermittently raising and rotating saidsupport and for holding an article thereon during rotation, and meansfor applying an even coating to selected surfaces of the article whilesaid support is in` its raised position.

3. In a coating apparatus, for articles of noncircular configuration, asupport for articles to be coated, means including eccentrically mountedgears for rotating said support at varying speeds during each revolutionas `required to produce a substantially uniform linear surface speed ofthe peripheral surfaces of the article to I 4configuration, it should beunderstood that by sequently withdrawing such material therefrom anarticle on said table, for removing a heated article therefrom, and forplacing such heated article on Vsaid support; means for clamping suchheated article to said support and for temporarily elevating androtating the same; means for coating a selected surface arealof thearticle while it is in the elevated position; and means for thereaftereffecting release and discharge of` the article from the support.

5. In a spray apparatus, the combination of a. rotatable` and endwisemovable support for the material to be sprayed, a platform upon whichthe material to be sprayed is deposited, a lehr tioned to direct a spraytoward Aan `article on said supportwhen in its raised position.`

6. Ina spray apparatus, thecombination of a rotatable and endwisemovablesupport for the material to be sprayed, a platform upon which thematerial to be sprayed is deposited, a lehr in which the material isheated prior to the 'spraying thereof, means for transferring materialfrom said platform to the lehr and for subsequently withdrawing suchmaterial therefrom ontosaid support, means for then .raising saidsupport, means made effective during such raising movement to clamp thearticle thereto, means actuated during such movement t0 vefiectrotation-of said support, a spray'gun positioned to direct a spray ofcoating material toward an article on said support when `in"its raisedposition, and means for maintaining the distance between the surfaceofthe article and the spray gun constant while the article is beingsprayed.

7. In a spray apparatus, the combination of a rotatable and endwisemovable support for the material tonbe sprayed, a platform upon whichthe material to be sprayed is deposited, a lehr in which the material isheated prior to the spraying thereof, means for transferring materialfrom said platform to the lehr and for subonto said support, means forthen raising said support, means made effective during such rais-` ingmovement to clamp the article thereto, means actuated during suchmovement to effect rotation of said support, a spray gun positioned todirect a spray toward an article on said support when in its raisedposition, and means for maintaining the surface speed of the articlepast said gun substantially constant.

8. In a coating apparatus, for non-circular articles,` a rotatablesupport for an article to be coated, means including a motor and ageartrain containing eccentrically mounted gears for rotating said supportat varying speeds for imparting a substantially constant peripheralsurface speed to an article to be coated, means for directing a sprayofcoating material toward the peripheral surfaces ofan article on saidsupport, and means 4actuated in synchronism with said gear train formaintaining saidspray directing means at a constant distance from theperipheral surface of thc article during the coating thereof.

9. In an apparatus for coating an article of irregular surface outline,a support for the article, a gun for directing a spray of coatingmaterial toward thearticle, means for effecting rotation of the supportat varying speeds to succes` sively expose the surfaces of the articlewhich,

rotating said holder at varying speeds to progressively bring allportions of the articlesurface to be coated within theA focus of saidgun fo'r a substantially like time period, and means for eiectingrelative movement between the support and the gun as required tomaintain thev distance between the surface being coated and the gunconstant whereby a uniform coating of such surfaces is elected.

11. In a coating apparatus a support for rotating an article Whosesurface is to be coated with a band which varies in distance from theaxis of said support, means for directing a spray of coating material ofat least the width of the desired band toward a minor portion of thesurface of the article to be coated, means for maintaining substantiallylike spacing between the .root of the spray and the surface to be coatedwhile the article is rotating, and means for ro,.` tating said supportat varying speeds required to progressively present substantially thesame amount of surface area perunit oi' time to the spray throughout thecoating cycle. l

l2. In a glass coating apparatus, a support for successively receivingarticles to be coated, a lehr, means for feeding articles to the lehr,means for withdrawing such articles from the lehr and for placing themon said support, means for intermittently rotating said support and forholding an article thereon during rotation, and means for supplying aneven coating to selected Surfaces of the article lwhile said support isbeing rotated.

'13. In a coating apparatus, for articlesof noncircular configuration',a `support for articles to be coated, means for rotating said support atvarying speeds to produce a substantlallyfuniform linear surface speedof the surfaceseof the article to be coated with respect to a pointadvjacent its periphery, a spraygun arranged `to progressively applycoating material to such surfaces of the Iarticle during its rotation bysaid support, and means for maintaining said gun at a constant distancefrom the article while it is being coated. f Y

14. In an apparatus for applying a non-circular band of coating materialto an article, a support for the article, a support having a spray gunarranged to direct coating material against a portion ofthe articlesurf-ace, and mechanical means for rotating one of said supports atvaryling speeds about an axis passing through a portion oi' the articleabout which the band is to be applied to progressively presentsubstantially the same amount'of surface area of the article per unit oftime tocoating material issuing from said gun.

RAY A. HINKLEY; JOHN LELAND MILLER.

